Field of the Invention
A terminal block assembly includes a terminal block containing a first opening for receiving a printed circuit board, and a second opening for removably receiving an internal bus connector unit. The bus connector unit comprises a thin flat support plate that carries first conductor means arranged for connection with the power supply and monitoring signal conductors of the distribution system, and second conductor means arranged for connection with the electrical circuits on the printed circuit board.
Brief Description of the Prior Art
Modular control systems for automated commercial, industrial, and residential buildings are disclosed in the prior patents to Eggert, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,079 and Glathe, et al., Pat. No. 5,722,862, both assigned to the instant Applicant. The use of interconnecting terminal block devices for such distribution systems is shown in the Zebermann, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,561, among others.
A bus conductor section for electrical equipment is known from the European patent No. EP 95 113 729 A2. The equipment, shown in this publication as the internal bus conductor section, is made as a continuous thin plate with strip conductors applied thereupon, In this equipment, terminal blocks that can be lined up next to each other on supporting rails are used for signal adaptation between a super-ordinate field bus and initiators, field units or the like that are connected to the connection blocks. The terminal blocks are made up of functionally different connection or module discs, such as protective conductor discs, feed discs, supply/signal conductor discs and catch foot discs. One or more connection blocks can be connected via the internal bus conductor with a connection module for the field bus.
Another bus conductor section is known from the European patent No. EP 00 100 303, wherein the bus conductor sections of the individual base terminal carriers are made structurally separate from each other, each having a thin plate through which passes at least one row of metal pins which are aligned on one side of the thin plate generally normal to the plate, and on the opposite side, essentially parallel to the thin plate, whereby the row of pins extending orthogonally relative to the thin plate is so dimensioned that its pin row ends can be used directly for contacting a socket terminal strip. The structural separation of the bus conductor sections of each module disc first of all offers the advantage of an almost random ability to line up also the bus conductor section with each other and thus enhances the versatility of the entire module system. Moreover, the chosen structural design of the bus conductor section with a thin plate and with angle pins of special length passing through the thin plate will offer the advantage of being able to omit the separate plug elements for contacting a separate equipment plug or an equipment plug molded upon an electronic printed circuit board.
Although the solution offered in the aforementioned European patent No. EP 00 100 303 proved effective, there is nevertheless the need for an optimization of the electrical equipment and its internal bus conductor for special cases of practical use in which a relatively large number of data and/or supply lines are provided in a very tight space. The object of this invention is to solve this problem.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a generally rectangular terminal block containing a first opening for receiving a printed circuit board, and a second opening for removably receiving a replaceable internal bus connector unit carrying first conductor means adapted for connection with the voltage supply and monitoring and control signal lines of the system, and second conductor means adapted for connection with the electrical circuits of the printed circuit board.
According to a more specific object of the invention, the internal bus connector unit includes a thin support plate that is removably connected with the terminal block that carries the printed circuit board, the terminal block, together with the printed circuit board thereon, being transversely mounted on a support rail. First conductors on the thin support plate of one terminal block are adapted for connection with corresponding first conductors carried by an internal bus connector unit on an adjacent terminal block assembly arranged on the mounting rail.
According to another object of the invention, the first and second conductors carried by the thin support plate of the internal bus connector unit are arranged in superimposed rows of terminal strips, with the conductors being staggered to provide a large number of circuit connections. According to another feature of the invention, the terminal strips carrying the second conductors are vertically arranged in horizontal rows. In one embodiment, it has been proposed to mount one terminal strip row on the bottom edge of the printed circuit board. Thus, a large number of pins and conductors may be provided in an extremely simple manner, offering customer-tailored versatility (regarding the number of poles, shuntability, cross-connections, or the like).
In this way, this solution can also do justice to the most problematical individual cases of practical use with a need for a plurality of bus conductor data lines. Furthermore, along with the signal and supply line arrangement for the electronic printed circuit boards, one can also supply the field units via the internal bus conductor. Compatibility to the module bus technique of the aforementioned European patent No. EP 00 100 303 can also be achieved here.
It is also possible in a simple manner to combine in several rows of connections various types of connections such as light transmitting conductor connections and metallic conductor with each other. Electronic means may be provided for the transmission of light on the printed circuit board in this case.
The fact that the connections can be lined up in many rows also makes it possible to vary the contact sizes without any problems. With the help of different contact sizes, one can adapt the bus conductor in this fashion without any problems to various current load capacity requirements. The soldering connections can be made in any desired fashion, for example, in a through-contacting manner and/or via the SMD [surface-mounted device] technology. One can also insert pole connectors in place of the socket terminal strips and pin strips.